DUEZ ADDS CONTINENTAL FLAVOUR TO KILLARNEY HISTORIC RALLY
Three time Belgian Rally Champion, Marc Duez, is to contest the Great Stuff Caterers 2006 Killarney Historic Stages Rally, which will take place on December 2nd and 3rd. He will pilot a Porsche 911 entered in the category for Post-Historic cars. Welcoming the news of Duez's entry, the Clerk of the Course of the Killarney Historic Stages Rally, Tim Clifford, said: "We are delighted that Marc Duez, a professional driver, has chosen to take part in our event. It will be very interesting to see how his pace compares with the Irish competitors and visitors from the UK."
Duez, 49, has driven for various works teams in the World Rally Championship during his thirty year career in professional motorsports, including Austin Rover, Ford, Toyota and Seat. He has also achieved equal distinction in circuit racing, having recorded eight victories in the 24 Hour races at Nurburgring, Spa-Francorchamps and Zolder, and class victories in the famous Daytona and Le Mans 24 hour events. His only previous competitive outing in this country came in 1987, when he was part of the Prodrive BMW line-up on the Circuit of Ireland Rally.
The Porsche Centre Chester-backed 911 which Duez will drive on the Killarney Historic Stages Rally is the same car which brought Adrian Kermode and Maurice Beckett to victory in the Post-Historic category of the 2006 Pirelli Irish Tarmac Championship. It will be prepared by Elkin Robinson Motorsport in Northern Ireland. Marc will be co-driven in Killarney by John Muth, with whom he shared an N-GT class victory on the 2005 Ardenne Bleue Rally in a modern Porsche 911 GT3.
Adrian Kermode will himself take part in the Killarney event in an earlier example of the 911, entered in the Historic category.
The Great Stuff Caterers 2006 Killarney Historic Stages Rally, which is organised and promoted by Killarney & District Motor Club, will be based at the Dromhall Hotel and will also be supported by Randles Hotels, Killarney & West Cork; EPS Bison Environmental Products Division; McAuliffe Developments; Centrepoint Tralee; Louis Mulcahy Pottery and The Christmas in Killarney Festival.
The rally will commence with a town-centre start on the afternoon of Saturday, December 2nd. Two afternoon stages followed by two night-time stages will be run on Saturday, with a further eight stages following on Sunday, December 3rd. The event will also feature a centralised service area at Liebherr Car Park, Fossa, just outside Killarney.
Further information at killarneyhistoricrally.com .
